New York's highest court on Tuesday struck down an appellate court decision and ruled that a vehicle stop that led to a man's guilty plea was unlawful, finding a state trooper didn't have probable cause to stop the vehicle for a traffic infraction. 

The state's Court of Appeals dismissed the driver's indictment after the court's majority found the trooper "lacked an objectively reasonable suspicion that a crime had occurred" in making the stop. The state trooper testified at a suppression hearing that he stopped the car due to the results of a license plate check, which indicated it was an impounded vehicle, according to the ruling.